Slipping
by Lionna
Summary: Doctor Horrible is letting the world and his new life, this Brand New Day, wear him down.
1. Slipping

Disclaimer: Don't own.

* * *

_**Slipping**_

Sleep... did not come easy anymore. But what truly evil villain had time for sleep? Besides, Bait and Switch told him the bags under his eyes made him look more sinister.

Moist, his oldest friend, his only friend, seemed to be watching him closer than ever.

It did not surprise the doctor when, one day, his henchman confronted him in his lab.

"Doc, are you alright?"

Dr. Horrible just glanced over his shoulder at the other man. "Never better. Hand me that wrench?" He said casually.

Moist did so, and Dr. Horrible calmly wiped off the handle before using it one the gargantuan machine he was working on. I was a medicine creator. Once he was finished, if his calculations were right, all he would need to do would be to insert the right ingredients into the right ports. Out would pop a pill that was almost one hundred percent caffeine. Coffee had stopped working long ago, and Dr. Horrible did not like to close his eyes. _She _was always there, waiting for him, blood on her shirt and condemnation in her eyes.

Desperation was truly the mother of invention.

"Doc, are you sure you're alright. You don't look too good." Moist stumbled back a bit as the blond man jumped slightly.

Dr. Horrible had honestly forgotten that the other man was there. Sighing and turning his back on the machine (it was almost done. He knew it was) he tried to smile reassuringly at his friend, even as he rubbed calloused hands over drooping eyes. One more hour, that was all he needed. "I'm fine, Moist. Really. Don't you have a date to get to?"

The dark haired man grinned self consciously. "Yeah, Jezebel said yes to a second date. I wasn't sure she would, she's never agreed to a second one with anyone else..."

Dr. Horrible's gloves creaked as he made a shooing motion. "Then by all means, go. I'll be fine here."

"You're sure?" Already concern was pushed to the side in the wave of excitement that engulfed his sidekick.

"Yes. Go." There was a steel spine in that order, something that had never been in anything he said only months ago. Moist nodded shortly, and left the lab.

Dr. Horrible turned back to his machine, and tried to push the thought of anything else out of his sometimes overfull head.

But no matter his effort, a whisper slipped past his defenses. _'Once upon a time, you two would talk for hours about your girls. Him with his ever changing and hard won dates, you with-"_ He strangled the thought, much like he had strangled Captain Hammer when the man had hunted him down, finally shedding all traces of mercy. He did not acknowledge the brief thought that, if his mind was rebelling even slightly like that, that his tenuous grasp of sanity was slipping.

_'That was different. Those times were different.'_ He told himself firmly.

The thought died with one last word. _'Why?' _

He did not even consciously have to answer what he already knew. Those were happier times.

Dr. Horrible redoubled his effort on the machine. He did not need sleep.

And he no longer deserved happiness.

* * *

Crestfallen's giving me a Hel of a time. So I'm hoping writing something a little different would get the creative juices flowing. That, and my brain wouldn't let me sleep until I wrote this, because I saw Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog for the fist time today. The ending took me entirely by surprise. Anyway. I need sleep, and hopefully now I can.

Lionna


	2. I Cannot Believe My Eyes

Disclaimer: Don't own.

* * *

_**I Cannot Believe My Eyes**_

He was feeling confident. He was feeling almost like his old self. Captain Hammer grinned in a self assured manner as he strode unimpeded into the not so secret lair of Dr. Horrible. The only person who he came across was the oddly damp man that occasionally showed up for the epic battles he and the Dr. had before the... incident.

The man did a double take, but before he could do anything to stop the Captain, the 'hero' busted through a wall that was in his way.

Usually, he would have taken a moment or two to show the damp man who he was dealing with, but that would have to be put off. He had bigger fish to fry.

Namely the man who stood before him, in a room he had busted into filled with parts and gadgets Captain Hammer couldn't even hope to name.

Dr. Horrible didn't even do him the courtesy of turning around to face him. Just said negligently over one red-clad shoulder, "I would ask you to close the door behind you, but seeing as how you saw fit to create your own, well... What are you doing here, Captain Hammer?"

The Captain drew himself up, puffing out his chest proudly. "I am here to put a stop to your dastardly plans." He announced grandly. "And make sure you never kill another person, like you did poor what's-her-name."

That seemed to snap something in the other man, as he spun to face him with fury in his once placid eyes. "What's-her-name?" He hissed, and Captain Hammer had to fight the urge to back up under the onslaught of anger. "She was dating you. You _slept_ with her. _**SHE DIED WITH YOUR NAME ON HER LIPS!**_ And you _**DARE**_ do Penny the disservice of forgetting her name for even a moment?!"

At that moment, Captain Hammer did step back a bit, the courage his therapist had filled him with flowing out of him rapidly.

"Er... you know what? I think I have the wrong address. I'm just gonna... go." He said haltingly. He stumbled back even further when Dr. Horrible began stalking towards him.

The smile on his thin, pallid face was frightening. "Why? You only just got here." Dr. Horrible's voice was sinister.

Moist found him an hour later, standing over the cooling body that was once Captain Hammer. The bruises around the body's thick neck were enough of a tip off to tell him what had happened.

The Dr. just stood there, his eyes blank as he stared down at the man that was his nemesis once upon a time.

"Doc." No response. Not even a twitch. "Doc! Dr. Horrible!" Moist had to call him several more times before it seemed like the man could finally tear his eyes away from the corpse.

"Oh. Moist. You're here..." Turning around and moving through the hole in the wall that lead to his lab, he called. "Could you have some of the henchmen remove the body from here. I don't want him stinking up the place."

Moist just stared after his boss. He almost couldn't believe his eyes. Couldn't process what they were telling him. There once was a time that he could safely say Dr. Horrible wouldn't hurt a fly.

But that was before Captain Hammer made the worst decision of his life. Before that bad decision broke one man, and doomed the world.

* * *

Alright, so another reason Crestfallen is giving me trouble is that I'm just not in the mood to write humor... Anyway, this is set a bit before Slipping. And I think I need a hug.

Lionna


End file.
